Kandinsky [Hardcover]

Vivian Endicott Barnett (Author), Christian Derouet (Author), Tracey Bashkoff (Editor), Wassily Kandinsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2009

No other artist epitomizes the character of the Guggenheim Museum quite like Vasily Kandinsky, who is closely linked to the history of the museum and has been collected in depth in the permanent collection since its founding. Kandinsky accompanies the first full-scale retrospective of the artist's career to be exhibited in the United States since 1985, when the Guggenheim culminated its trio of groundbreaking exhibitions of the artist's life and work in Munich, Russia and Paris. This presentation of nearly 100 paintings brings together works from the three institutions that have the greatest concentration of Kandinsky's work in the world: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich; as well as significant loans from private and public holdings. This traveling exhibition's final iteration at the Guggenheim Museum will investigate both Kandinsky's formal and conceptual contributions to the course of abstraction in the twentieth century, concentrating on his innovations in painting. Kandinsky traces the artist's vision through thematic motifs such as the horse and rider, mountainous landscapes, tumultuous seascapes, apocalyptic imagery and other religious subjects.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Guggenheim Museum (October 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089207390X
• ISBN-13: 978-0892073900
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art as the expression of an "inner necessity", September 22, 2009

By 

Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kandinsky (Hardcover)

This book is the catalogue for the current blockbuster Kandinsky exhibition held at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, which already appeared in Munich and Paris. It is divided into several chapters which tackle such aspects as Kandinsky and America, Kandinsky's relationship with the art dealer and critic Herwarth Walden, founder of the art gallery, publishing company and art magazine "Der Sturm" in the early 1910's (who was to become one of the major proponents of Kandinsky's art, as well as that of the other members of the Blaue Reiter), Kandinsky and abstraction (and the sources of inspiration that lead the artist to follow such a radical path), etc. An interesting essay by Vivian Endicott Barnett (one of the most respected Kandinsky scholars) studies the artist's career as a succession of self-recreations and decisive turning points.

Even though there are no close-ups, the illustrations are of a high quality and manage to give the viewer a fair idea of the explosive power of Kandinsky's large compositions and of his gift as one of the major colorists in the history of art. The accompanying essays have, to my knowledge, no equivalent in other publications in English, and therefore this book is a must-have for anyone interested in the "founder of abstraction".

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Book Design, January 14, 2010

By 

Buffy (Sunnydale) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kandinsky (Hardcover)

In what should have the ultimate Kandinsky book is instead a major let down. The book starts off great, the cover is a nice composition and the circles are actually die cut circles in the white cover to show the colored circles underneath. After that about 2/5 of the book is devoted to critical analysis of Kandinsky. I could have done without this part in exchange for more artwork. The book itself is small in size for an art book which is a problem considering the complex compositions of Kandinsky's paintings. Once you get to the plates there is, unfortunately, too much white space around the images. So you effectively get reproductions that are postcard size---much too small to really enjoy the artwork. Because of the small illustrations I'm giving this just 1 star. There aren't a lot of Kandinsky books so you don't have much choice out there. I ended up passing on this and give it a recommendation only for the die-hard Kandinsky collectors.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars worthwhile Kandinsky overview, October 19, 2009

By 

Ivor E. Zetler (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kandinsky (Hardcover)

Life must have been tough for Kandinsky. Born in Odessa in 1866, his parents divorced when he was aged 5 and he suffered from depression in his youth. At the age of 30 Kandinsky bravely relinquished a promising legal career and moved to Munich to study art. The onset of World War 1 caused him to return to his homeland, only to be embroiled in the Russian Revolution. All his family wealth was confiscated during this time and his only child, Vsevolod, died aged 2, partially as a result of malnutrition. His stay in Germany was cut short by the rise of National Socialism, resulting in a further transfer to Paris in 1933. He died there of a stroke in 1944.

It is fascinating to observe the changes in Kandinsky's style with his geographic moves. This is clearly deliniated in this catalogue of the present Guggenheim exhibition. Kandinsky's most important phase coincided with his stays in Munich and Murnau (1908-14). This is where he developed his initial abstract style. Although his later works (Paris) are regarded as less significant, I enjoy the playfulness and impeccable sense of color and balance of this period.

This catalogue gives an excellent overview of Kandinsky's work and life. Most of the introductory essays and painting annotations are informative and help shed light on the artist's sometimes difficult and esoteric style. An exception is Matthias Haldemann's prolix artspeak essay eg " The picture-in-picture principle makes itself known as a kind of reflection. It is generated and dissolved like visibility as an interaction from outside and inside, and with that, subject to iconicity." Work that out if you can!

The print and reproduction quality of this book is above average. It is a pity however that the page size is on the small side; a larger format would have shown Kandinsky's works to far better advantage. Recommended with minor reservations.